Le lieutenant-colonel John By (1779-1836), officier britannique membre des Royal Engineers, recevait en 1826 l’ordre de construire un canal devant relier la rivière des Outaouais au lac Ontario. Le résultat en fut le canal Rideau, achevé en 1832.

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Lieutenant-Colonel John By (1779–1836) of the Royal Engineers was the British officer sent into the wilderness in 1826 with orders to build a canal to link the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario. The result
was the Rideau Canal, completed in 1832.